Russia transfers production technology, not design knowledge

BANGALORE - Indian scientists and engineers face problems with the upgrade and maintenance of Russian weaponry and equipment in service with the defense forces because the designs and other details are not transferred at the time of sale of these weaponry.
Crew members take shade from the sun under the nose of a MiG-29 fighter Feb. 13 at Air Force Station Yelahanka in Bengaluru, India. ( M. Scott Mahaskey/ Staff) Addressing a news conference here, chief of India's Defence Research and Development Organisation [DRDO], M. Natarajan said the main problems with Russian platforms is that the Russians only transfer production technology, not design knowledge.

"Russia to date has only given us license production," Natarajan said.

To overcome these difficulties DRDO needs to build indigenous design capabilities in order to meet the future aerospace requirements of the country. As a result the DRDO is forging collaboration in several sectors including propulsion, sensors and other materials, he added.

The DRDO is also forging tie-ups with foreign companies from Russia, France and Israel in air defense capabilities and missile systems.

The state-owned organization has also tied up with IAI of Israel to jointly build $3 billion Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile system for the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force.

However, a formal clearance on the deal is awaited. Sources in the Indian Defence Ministry said such a go ahead can come any time.

The bulk of the armament in Indian defense force service is of Russian origin. Most of it, bought since the early 1970s, needs replacement or upgrading.

The DRDO has been drawing flak for delays in several defense projects, in some cases the delay runs to over two decades.

The Arjun Main Battle Tank, which was born in a DRDO lab in 1974 and is still to be inducted for combat purposes though the Indian Army, has placed an order for some of these tanks.

Similarly, the Akash air defense system undertaken in the early 1980s has yet to be introduced, which has led to purchases of the Israeli Spyder surface to missile system late last year.

Russia has to get its act together, its facing stiff competition and must clear all outstanding Issues. Innovation is the Key, and they should pursue it.

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Good point...I don't understand why Russia is being so callous with us. They don't seem to understand that the defense market is soooo much more crowed that it was back in the 80's and the 90's with high quality western companies. They have get their head in the game

they sell to the chinese but chinese by limited amounts and reverse engineer the rest, at one time our whole defense market was open for them and thru their negligence they are losing more and more of it.

February 28, 2009: India is demanding that Russia sell them the design data for many of the weapons they have bought over the years. Russia is under a lot of pressure to accede. For decades, Russia controlled most of the market for high-tech military exports to India. Since the end of the Cold War in 1991, India went through some changes. First, the Indians abandoned their four decade experiment with socialism and state control of the economy (not communism and central planning, but many restrictions on entrepreneurs, as well as importing and exporting goods). The economy flourished, and suddenly India could afford even better quality weapons (from Western suppliers.) At the same time, India sought to expand its domestic arms industry, so that they could design and produce their own high-tech weapons.
Russia had already sold India production licenses for many major weapons systems. Russia would have preferred to just ship tanks and aircraft to India, but the license approach was a profitable second best. Russia also planned to make a lot of money with upgrades for the weapons, both the ones built in Russia, and those built under license in India. But the Indians wanted to shop around, and, where it suited their interests, to install non-Russian upgrades. To do that, they often need design details on the Russian gear.

India doesn't have to threaten to switch to Western, or domestic, designs for major military systems. This is already happening. India is telling the Russians that, if they want to preserve their privileged position as the major Indian weapons supplier, they will have to cooperate by sharing weapons design data. It's an offer the Russians can't refuse, at least not at great risk to their weapons exports.